Cultural Histories

AthensA Cultural and Literary HistoryMichael Llewellyn SmithModern Athens is a bustling, overgrown city, continually coming to terms with its illustrious past. Dominated by the Parthenon, the world-famous symbol of classical antiquity, it has been touched by every aspect of Greece's turbulent history, suf...$15.00

Bali is unlike anywhere else. Despite the advent of international tourism, this Indonesian island remains an untarnished cultural gem set in an idyllic landscape. Spir...$15.00

BrittanyA Cultural HistoryWendy MewesA CULTURAL GUIDE TO A REGION ON THE EDGE OF EUROPE THAT HAS BEEN VISITED BY THE ROMANS, FRANKS, VIKINGS, ANGLO-SAXONS AND GERMANS

Brittany’s richly layered landscape has contributed depth and character to the region’s traditional oral...$15.00

BrusselsA Cultural and Literary CompanionAndré de VriesStarting out as a few huts in a forbidding swamp, Brussels took more than a thousand years to become the capital of the Duchy of Brabant, of Burgundy, and from 1830 the capital city of the new kingdom of Belgium. Today its name popularly evokes Euroc...$15.00

Buenos AiresA Cultural HistoryJason WilsonThe most European of South American cities, Buenos Aires evokes exile and nostalgia. A nineteenth-century replica of Paris or Madrid set adrift in an alien continent, its identity is neither of the Old World nor the New. The Argentine capital's r...$15.00

Calcutta (new ed.)A Cultural HistoryKrishna Dutta; foreword by Anita DesaiIn the popular imagination, Calcutta is a packed and pestilential sprawl, made notorious by theBlack Hole and the works of Mother Teresa. Kipling called it a City of Dreadful Night, and a century later V.S. Naipaul, Günter Grass, and Louis...$15.00

CambridgeA Cultural and Literary HistoryMartin GarrettFrom its origins in the thirteenth century the University of Cambridge has attracted many notable students and teachers, both brilliant and eccentric. From Erasmus to Bertrand Russell and Wittgenstein, the university has been at the forefront of phil...$15.00

EdinburghA Cultural and Literary CompanionDonald Campbell; foreword by Allan MassieFrom beneath the heights of the Castle Rock, Scotland's capital spreads out in Gothic glory and Classical pomp, its Old Town and New Town juxtaposed across one of the most celebrated streets in Europe. Baptized "the Athens of the North"...$15.00

Edinburgh (new ed.)A Cultural HistoryDonald Campbell; foreword by Allan MassieFrom beneath the heights of the Castle Rock, Scotland's capital spreads out in Gothic glory and Classical pomp, its Old Town and New Town juxtaposed across one of the most celebrated streets in Europe. Baptized "the Athens of the North"...$15.00

HamburgA Cultural HistoryMatthew JefferiesA cultural guide to a colorful European destination that has been overlooked for too long, Hamburg has much to offer its 8 million annual visitors.

It is a popular misconception that Hamburg is a coastal city. In fact, despite possessing...$15.00

HavanaA Cultural and Literary CompanionClaudia LightfootFrom its humble birth as a few thatched huts along the shoreline, Havana has emerged from five hundred years of turbulent history as the most fascinating city in the Caribbean. Spain’s “Pearl of the Antilles” was in turn plundered b...$15.00

HelsinkiA Cultural History (Interlink Cultural Histories)Neil KentHelsinki is one of the world's most northerly capitals, but it is by no means a city frozen in northern wastes. Situated along the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, magnificent lakes and forests reach into Helsinki's urban heart, a rare...$15.00

IstanbulA Cultural HistoryPeter ClarkA celebration of an extraordinary city steeped in history

Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul: these are only three names that have been given to the city that straddles two continents, was the capital of two multinational empires and is...$15.00

KingstonA Cultural and Literary CompanionDavid HowardKingston wrestles with the enduring legacy of colonial rags and riches, recent episodes of political strife and the occasional outburst of modern-day turf rivalry. Formerly the hub of Britain’s Caribbean Empire, the Jamaican capital provides an...$15.00

Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, expected in some projections to have a population of 25 million by 2025. This will make it the biggest metropolis in sub-Saharan Africa and possibly the world's third largest city. This...$15.00

LisbonA Cultural and Literary CompanionPaul BuckLisbon stands alone as the last city on the western edge of Europe: a capital and port rich with a history of exploration and discovery, a place immersed in romantic dreams of its maritime past. Shackled by the decades of Salazar's dictatorship,...$15.00

MadridA Cultural and Literary CompanionElizabeth NashPlanted by royal whim in a harsh, sun-drenched tableland, Madrid flaunts its distinctive Spanish identity as the most vibrant of Europe's capitals. An imperial court, remote from external influences, produced durable curiosities like the siesta,...$15.00

Mexico CityA Cultural and Literary CompanionNick CaistorMexico City is a place of superlatives. The oldest city in the Americas, it is now the world's largest urban area. Formerly the center of the Aztec and Spanish empires, this vast modern metropolis is home to over fifteen million people, mirroring...$15.00

Sociologist and Miami resident Anthony P. Maingot has written a cultural history of this vibrant city, which boasts the highest percentage of foreign-born residents in the US. Miami, or “Sweet Water” in the Creek Indian language, is on...$15.00

New York CityA Cultural and Literary CompanionEric HombergerNew York City epitomizes modernity. Its skyscrapers and neon nightlife, together with its inner-city ghettoes, symbolize all the excitements and tribulations of contemporary urban living. But the city’s powerful contemporary presence is also bu...$15.00